Systems and methods for real-time, distributed processing of group bill payments

ABSTRACT

Systems and methods are provided for group bill payment comprising creating a secure group bill payment account associated with a plurality of group members. The group bill payment account may be configured to receive information via a network from the plurality of group members; permit a group member to manage the group bill payment account following an authentication process; and transmit a group payment to a provider. Systems and methods may further comprise receiving instructions from a group member to create a rule for requesting payment, the bill being from a provider and associated with group members; receiving the bill issued by the provider; determining a charge based on the bill and the rule; sending a payment request based on the charge; receiving a deposit into the group bill payment account; transmitting a group payment; and sending a notification.

BACKGROUND

Many people need to split bills with other members of a group, i.e. tomake a communal bill payment. For example, roommates, teammates, familymembers, friends, clubs, or other groups may receive a bill and need tosplit the cost based on criteria. Sometimes, these bills recur like, forexample, a lease payment or a utility bill, and payment may be based onusage or other criteria.

Conventional methods for splitting bills often involve placing a bill ina single group member's name, even if multiple group members split thebill. Often, the responsible group member manually receives payment fromother group members, for example by depositing checks into a checkingaccount, and submits a single combined payment to the biller orprovider. One problem is that conventional methods may require theresponsible party to track payments and pay by the due date, aninconvenient, time-consuming effort. The amount owed by each party maybe variable and difficult to calculate. Further, this approach relies onthe responsible group member's honesty, diligence, and organizationalskills. A payment error or missed payment by the responsible groupmember may negatively impact all group members. In addition, theresponsible group member may be forced to send reminders to other groupmembers for late payments or bounced checks, creating an undesirablesocial situation. A further problem with conventional methods is thatgroup members whose names do not appear on the bill may have difficultyestablishing an official or legal status like, for example, proof ofresidence. Further, the responsible party may be forced to assume anobligation to pay when the other group members are delinquent inpayment. From these and other problems, it is apparent that conventionalmethods for splitting bills are inconvenient and create risks for allgroup members.

Some payment apps, software programs, online services, and other systemsattempt to address some of these problems, but these systems suffer fromdeficiencies. For example, some systems function as simple paymentschedulers or record-keepers, and in some cases may send reminder orconfirmation notifications to group members. However, these programs maylack the ability to pay a provider directly and do not reduce the risksidentified above. Further, these systems may not be scalable and reactto events in real-time.

In view of the shortcomings and problems with traditional methods, animproved and unconventional system and method for splitting group billsthat reduces risk and increases convenience is desired.

SUMMARY

The disclosed embodiments provide methods and systems for communal, orgroup, bill payment accounts. In particular, the disclosedunconventional systems and methods provide improvements overconventional systems and methods for splitting group bills that reducerisk and increase convenience.

Consistent with the present embodiments, a system for group bill paymentis disclosed. The system may comprise a memory storing instructions andone or more processors. The one or more processors may be configured toexecute the stored instructions to create a secure group bill paymentaccount associated with a plurality of group members. The group billpayment account may be configured to receive information via a networkfrom the plurality of group members, the information comprising arespective username, a respective password, and a respective memberpayment method; permit a group member to manage the group bill paymentaccount following an authentication process; and transmit a grouppayment to a provider. The group bill payment server may receiveinstructions from a group member to create a rule for requesting paymentfrom a group member to the group bill payment account. The bill may befrom the provider and may be associated with the group members. In someembodiments, the group bill payment server receives the bill issued bythe provider and generates an ephemeral container instance in response.The container instance may determine a group member charge based on thebill and the rule, and send a payment request to a group member based onthe charge. The group bill payment account may receive a deposit fromthe group member based the payment request. The container instance maytransmit the group payment from the group bill payment account to theprovider, the group payment being based on the bill. The containerinstance may send a notification to the group member comprisinginformation about a status of the group payment. The container instancemay be terminated.

Consistent with the disclosed embodiments, a method is disclosed. Themethod may comprise creating a secure group bill payment systemassociated with a plurality of group members. The group bill paymentsystem may be configured to receive information via a network from aplurality of group members, the information comprising a respectiveusername, a respective password, and a respective member payment method.The group bill payment system may be configured to permit a group memberto manage group bill payment account following an authentication processand transmit a group payment to a provider. The method may comprisereceiving, by the group bill payment system, instructions from a groupmember to create a rule for requesting payment from a group member tothe group bill payment account, the bill being from the provider andbeing associated with the group members. In some embodiments, the methodcomprises receiving, by the group bill payment system, the bill issuedby the provider and generating an ephemeral container instance inresponse. The method may comprise determining, by the containerinstance, a group member charge based on the bill and the rule, andsending, by the container instance, a payment request to the groupmember based on the charge. The method may comprise receiving, by thegroup bill payment system, a deposit into the group bill payment accountfrom the group member based on the payment request. The method maycomprise, transmitting, by the container instance, the group paymentfrom the group bill payment account to the provider, the group paymentbeing based on the bill. The method may comprise sending, by thecontainer instance, a notification to the group member comprisinginformation about a status of the group payment. The method may compriseterminating the container instance.

Consistent with other disclosed embodiments, non-transitorycomputer-readable storage media may store program instructions, whichare executed by at least one processor device and perform any of themethods described herein.

The foregoing general description and the following detailed descriptionare exemplary and explanatory only and are not restrictive of theclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings, which are incorporated in and constitute apart of this specification, illustrate several embodiments and, togetherwith the description, serve to explain the disclosed principles. In thedrawings:

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary group bill payment system.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary group member device, consistent withdisclosed embodiments.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary group bill payment server.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary process for group bill payment,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

FIG. 5 is a diagram of an exemplary apartment shared by group members,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

Disclosed embodiments improve the convenience and reduce risksassociated communal bill payment, i.e. group bill payments. To achievethese improvements in group bill payment systems and methods, thedisclosed embodiments comprise creating a secure group bill paymentaccount associated with a plurality of group members. The group billpayment account is configured to receive information via a network fromthe plurality of group members. The group bill payment account may befurther configured to transmit a group payment to a provider. In someembodiments, the group bill payment account receives instructions from agroup member to create a rule for requesting payment from a first groupmember to the group bill payment account, the bill being from theprovider and being associated with the group members. The group billpayment server may determine a group member charge based on the rule anda received bill. In some embodiments, the group bill payment accountsends a payment request to a group member based on the group membercharge and receives a deposit into the group bill payment account fromthe group member based on the payment request. The group bill paymentaccount may transmit the group payment from the group bill paymentaccount to the provider and send a notification to the first groupmember, the notification comprising information about a status of thegroup payment.

In the embodiments, a group member may be a family member, a roommate,an employee, a business partner, a colleague, a friend, a club member, ateam member, or other type of group member.

Reference will now be made in detail to exemplary embodiments, examplesof which are illustrated in the accompanying drawings and disclosedherein. Wherever convenient, the same reference numbers will be usedthroughout the drawings to refer to the same or like parts.

FIG. 1 is a diagram of an exemplary group bill payment system 100. Inparticular, FIG. 1 depicts a diagram of exemplary system 100, consistentwith disclosed embodiments, revealing some technical aspects of thepresent disclosure for achieving the intended results of the presentdisclosure. System 100 is an example of a system group bill payment. Bycreating and using a group bill payment account configured to receivedeposits and transmit payments to a provider, the embodiments allow forimproved convenience and reduced risk in communal bill payment.

As shown in FIG. 1, system 100 may include a plurality of group memberdevices 102 a, 102 b, and 102 n; a plurality of financial institutions104 a, 104 b, and 104 n; group bill payment server 106; group database108; provider 110; and network 112. Components of system 100 areconnected to each other through network 112.

FIG. 1 is an exemplary configuration of system 100. As will beappreciated by one skilled in the art, the components and arrangement ofcomponents included in system 100 may vary. For example, as compared tothe depiction in FIG. 1, system 100 may include a larger or smallernumber of group member devices, financial institutions, providers, groupbill payment servers, or networks. In addition, system 100 may furtherinclude other components or devices not depicted that perform or assistin the performance of one or more processes consistent with thedisclosed embodiments. The components and arrangements shown in FIG. 1are not intended to limit the disclosed embodiments, as the componentsused to implement the disclosed processes and features may vary.

Referring to FIG. 1, a group member may use one or more group memberdevices 102 a-n. Group member devices 102 a-n may be personal computers,mobile devices, smartphones, tablets, or the like. An exemplaryembodiment of group member device 102 a-n is depicted in FIG. 2 anddescribed below.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, group member devices 102 a-n maybe used to access systems associated with group bill payment server 106,a financial institution 104, or a provider 110. In some embodiments, agroup member using one of group member devices 102 a-n logs into groupbill payment server 106 with a method of authentication. For example,group member devices 102 a-n may be configured to allow the user toperform an authentication process comprising providing a credential. Thecredential may comprise at least one of a username, a password, a pin,an answer to a security question, a selection of a picture, a cardswipe, a proximity card scan, a token, a one-time password, speech, asignature, a keyboarding rhythm, a fingerprint, a biometric identifier,or another credential.

In some embodiments, group member devices 102 a-n are configured toretrieve and transmit data to and from the other components of system100. For example, group member devices 102 a-n may be configured toretrieve or update a group bill payment account status, paymentinformation, provider service data, or other data from at least one ofgroup bill payment server 106, financial institutions 104 a-n, orprovider 110. Group member devices 102 a-n may be configured to accessgroup bill payment server 106 and create a group member user account anda group bill payment account. In some embodiments, group member devices102 a-n may be configured to access group bill payment server 106 andassign a group bill payment account manager.

In some embodiments, a group member using a group member device 102 a-naccesses group bill payment server 106 to configure at least one of apayment to provider 110 or a deposit from a financial institution. Thepayment and deposit may be configured for immediate transfer, for ascheduled transfer, or for recurring scheduled transfer.

In some embodiments, group member devices 102 a-n are configured to sendand receive messages or notifications via network 112 to and fromcomponents of system 100, in including to and each other, to and fromgroup bill payment server 106, to and from financial institutions 104a-n. For example, group member devices 102 a-n may send or receive anotification to another component of system 100 comprising at least oneof a provider payment status, a group member deposit status, or a groupbill payment account balance. In some embodiments, a group member usinga group member device 102 a-n may conduct chat sessions with anothergroup member using another group member device 102 a-n. As one of skillin the art will appreciate, other forms of communication betweencomponents of system 100 are possible.

In the embodiment of system 100, financial institutions 104 a-n comprisea server comprising one or more processors, one or more input/output(I/O) devices, and a memory. Financial institutions 104 a-n connected tonetwork 112 and may comprise at least one of a checking account, asavings account, a credit card account, or other financial account. Thefinancial accounts may be associated with one or more group members. Thefinancial accounts and user accounts may be associated with a provider.

Financial institutions 104 a-n are capable of completing an electronictransaction. In some embodiments, financial institutions 104 a-n may becapable of performing millions of transactions per day or more.Financial institutions 104 a-n are configured to receive a deposit in afinancial account and make a payment from the financial account.

Financial institutions 104 a-n may comprise an online platform foraccessing a financial account. For example, a group member using groupmember device 102 a-n may use an online platform to check an accountstatus, make a deposit into the financial account, or make a paymentfrom the financial account.

In some embodiments, financial institutions 104 a-n use secureauthentication processes. For example, a financial institution 104 a-nmay require a group member using a group member device 102 a-n or aprovider 110 to perform an authentication process before data relatingto a financial account. The authentication process may compriseproviding a credential. The credential may comprise at least one of ausername, a password, a PIN, an answer to a security question, aselection of a picture, a card swipe, a proximity card scan, a token, aone-time password, speech, a signature, a keyboarding rhythm, afingerprint, a biometric identifier, or another credential.

In some embodiments, financial institutions 104 a-n are configured toperform Payment Card Industry (PCI) compliant transactions or to performtransactions compliant with other standards. In some embodiments,financial institutions 104 a-n may comprise an e-commerce payment systemconfigured to perform transactions including at least one of a creditcard transaction, a debit card transaction, a smart card transaction, anE-wallet transaction, a NetBanking® transaction, a mobile payment, anAmeriCommerce® transaction, an Amazon Pay® transaction, a Visa Pay®transaction, an Apple Pay® transaction or the like. As one of skill inthe art will appreciate, financial institutions 104 a-n may beconfigured to perform electronic transaction using still other methods.

In some embodiments, financial institutions 104 a-n use encryptionmethods to send information to and from other components of system 100.Financial institutions 104 a-n may use encryption methods to send data,to send messages, or to complete transactions.

As depicted in FIG. 1, group bill payment server 106 is connected tonetwork 112. Group bill payment server 106 comprises one or moreprocessors, one or more input/output (I/O) devices, and a memory. Insome embodiments, group bill payment server 106 is hosted on a cloudcompute service.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 is configured toallow a user accessing group bill payment server 106 through network 112using one of group member devices 102 a-n. In some embodiments, groupbill payment server 106 is configured to create a plurality of useraccounts associated with respective group members and may be furtherconfigured to create one or more provider accounts associated withprovider 110.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 is configured tocreate a secure group bill payment account associated with a pluralityof group members. Group bill payment server 106 may be capable oflinking the group bill payment account to an external bank account. Insome embodiments, the external bank account may carry a group billpayment account balance to be used for future payments.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 is configured forreceiving instructions from a group member using one of group memberdevices 102 a-n. For example, group bill payment server 106 may receiveinstructions to create a rule for requesting payment from a group memberto the group bill payment account.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 may be configured toreceive a bill associated with group members from a provider. In someembodiments, receiving the bill comprises receiving an image file andusing optical character recognition to generate text data based on theimage file. In some embodiments, accessing an email account using acredential; and automatically detecting an email in the email accountfrom the provider, wherein the email contains electronic billinginformation. In some embodiments, group bill payments server 106 isconfigured to receive a bill directly from provider 110. In someembodiments, group bill payments server 106 receives information aboutbills through manual entry from group member devices 102 a-n. In someembodiments, group bill payments server 106 can receive bill informationfrom financial institutions 104 a-.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server may be configured todetermine a group member charge based on a bill from a provider and arule. The rule may be based on a predetermined percentage, an income, ora usage rate.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 is configured to sendrequests for payment to group member devices 102 a-n. The request maycomprise at least one of an email, a text message, a push notification,a direct debit from a bank account, or a charge to a credit card. Groupbill payment server 106 may be configured to send a notification to anygroup member based on nonpayment by one of the group members.

Group bill payment server 106 may be capable of transmitting a payment.In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 may comprise ane-commerce payment system. Transmitting the payment may comprisecompleting an electronic transaction. For example, the group billpayment account may complete a credit card transaction, a debit cardtransaction, a smart card transaction, an E-wallet transaction, aNetBanking® transaction, a mobile payment, an AmeriCommerce®transaction, an Amazon Pay® transaction, a Visa Pay® transaction, anApple Pay® transaction or the like. In some embodiments, Group billpayment server 106 transmits a lump payment to a provider comprising aplurality of group bill payments associated with respective groups.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, group bill payment server 106 maybe configured to receive a deposit from financial institutions 104 a-nand transmit a group payment to provider 110. Transmitting a payment maycomprise automatically printing a check and sending the check toprovider 110 via at least one of a courier service or postal service. Insome embodiments, transmitting a payment comprises generating a digitalimage of a check and transmitting the digital image to provider 110.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 makes a payment toone or more financial institutions to an account associated withprovider 110.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 is a component of afinancial institution. The financial institution may be capable ofcarrying a group bill payment account balance to be used for futurepayments. In an embodiment not depicted in FIG. 1, group bill paymentserver 106 may be a component of one of financial institutions 104 a-n.

In some embodiments, a user or a provider may be required to complete anauthentication processes that comprises providing a credential beforeaccessing group bill payment server 106. The credential may comprise atleast one of a username, a password, a pin, an answer to a securityquestion, a selection of a picture, a card swipe, a proximity card scan,a token, a one-time password, speech, a signature, a keyboarding rhythm,a fingerprint, a biometric identifier, or another credential.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 uses encryptionmethods to send information to and from other components of system 100or components outside system 100. Group bill payment account server 106may use encryption methods to send or retrieve data, to send messages,to complete transactions, or to perform other operations.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 is configured toperform at least one of Payment Card Industry (PCI) complianttransactions, Automated Clearing House (ACH) transactions, ortransactions compliant with other standards. PCI is an informationsecurity standard for organizations that handle credit cardtransactions. PCI is a standard to increase security of cardholder datato reduce credit card fraud. PCI compliant institutions must validatecompliance annually, by an external Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) orby an Internal Security Assessor (ISA) that creates a Report onCompliance. PCI compliance is mandatory for certain credit card brandsand typically required of organizations handling large volumes oftransactions. PCI Data Security Standard requirements comprise: buildingand maintaining secure network and systems; protecting cardholder data;maintaining a vulnerability management program; implementing strongaccess control measures; monitoring and testing networks; maintaining aninformation security policy. As one of skill in the art will appreciate,other group bill payment server 106 may be configured to comply withother standards.

As one of skill in the art will appreciate, group bill payment server106 may be configured to perform electronic transactions using stillother methods.

Consistent with the present disclosures, in some embodiments group billpayments server 106 is hosted on a cloud compute service and generatescontainer instances in response to triggering events to performdisclosed methods. In some embodiments, the triggering event isgenerated by a messaging queue service or data streaming platform.Advantageously, container instances are ephemeral, with theirprovisioning based on a triggering event and their terminating based oncompletion of one or more jobs comprising the performance of disclosedmethods. In some embodiments, the triggering event is receiving a billfrom a provider. In some embodiments, the triggering event is thepassage of a predetermined date and time.

Referring again to FIG. 1, system 100 may comprise group database 108connected to group bill payment server 106. Database 108 comprises oneor more memory units. In some embodiments, Database 108 may beimplemented as one or more databases configured to store datasets. Thedatasets, in some embodiments, may be associated with group bill paymentaccounts, group member accounts, providers, and financial institutions.For example, database 108 may store group bill payment account balances,financial account credentials, provider account credentials, emailcredentials, a group member account payment method. Database 108 may beimplemented using document management systems, SQL databases utilizingMicrosoft® SQL Server® engines, SharePoint® databases, Oracle®databases, Sybase™ databases, or other relational databases, ornon-relational databases such as key-value stores or NoSQL databasessuch as Apache® HBase™. In some embodiments, database 108 may comprisean associative array architecture, such as a key-value storage, forstoring and rapidly retrieving large amounts of information.

In some embodiments, not shown in FIG. 1, group database 108 is acomponent of group bill payment server 106.

As depicted in FIG. 1, provider 110 is connected to network 112.Provider 110 may be a business, a landlord, a mortgage lender, aninsurance provider, a bank, a credit card company, a utility provider,an Internet Service Provider, a cable provider, a service provider, anon-profit organization, a school, a charity, an entertainment venue, amembership organization, a food club, a drink club, or other provider ofgoods or services. Not shown in detail in FIG. 1, provider 110 maycomprise an organization, an agent acting on behalf of the organization,or a device or computer system configured to perform operations. As oneof skill in the art would understand, provider 110 may comprise stillother examples.

In some embodiments, provider 110 is configured to receive an electronicpayment directly from group bill payment account 106 via network 112.Alternatively or additionally, provider 110 may be configured to receivean electronic payment from group bill payment account 106 via network112 at a financial account held with one of financial institutions 104a-n. In some embodiments, provider 110 may be configured to receive acheck. In some embodiments not shown, provider 110 may not be connectedto network 112 and may be capable of receiving a check.

In some embodiments, provider 110 sends a bill. In some embodiments,sending a bill comprises at least one of mailing a paper bill to anaddress, emailing a bill to at least one of a group member or group billpayment account server 106, sending a notification to a group member, orallowing a group member or other user to download a bill. In someembodiments, the notification is a text message, an email, or a pushnotification.

In some embodiments, provider 110 may complete an authenticationprocesses that comprises providing a credential before accessing groupbill payment server 106 or accessing one of financial institutions 104a-n. The credential may comprise at least one of a username, a password,a pin, an answer to a security question, a selection of a picture, acard swipe, a proximity card scan, a token, a one-time password, speech,a signature, a keyboarding rhythm, a fingerprint, a biometricidentifier, or another credential.

In the embodiment of system 100, network 112 may be a public network orprivate network. Network 112 may be, for example, a wired or wirelessnetwork, including, without limitation, a Local Area Network, a WideArea Network, a Metropolitan Area Network, an IEEE 802.11 wirelessnetwork (e.g., “Wi-Fi”), a network of networks (e.g., the Internet) orthe like. Group member devices 102 a, financial 104 a-n, group billpayment server 106, and provider 110, may connect to network 112. Insome embodiments, network 112 may be secure and require a password toaccess the network.

FIG. 2 is a diagram of an exemplary group member device, consistent withdisclosed embodiments. In some embodiments, group member device 102 is apersonal computer, a mobile device, a smartphone, a tablet, or the like.

As shown in FIG. 2, group member device 102 comprises a comprises one ormore processors 210, one or more input/output (I/O) devices 220, and amemory 230.

Processor 210 may be one or more known or custom processing devicesdesigned to perform functions of the disclosed methods, such as a singlecore or multiple core processors capable of executing parallel processessimultaneously. For example, processor 210 may be a single coreprocessor configured with virtual processing technologies. In certainembodiments, processor 210 may use logical processors to simultaneouslyexecute and control multiple processes. Processor 210 may implementvirtual machine technologies, or other known technologies to provide theability to execute, control, run, manipulate, store, etc. multiplesoftware processes, applications, programs, etc. One of ordinary skillin the art would understand that other types of processor arrangementscould be implemented that provide for the capabilities disclosed herein.

I/O devices 220 may also include one or more communication modules (notshown) for sending and receiving information from other components insystem 100 by, for example, establishing wired or wireless connectivitybetween group member device 102 and network 112. Exemplary communicationmodules as I/O devices 220 may include, for example, a short-range ornear field wireless communication modem, a Wi-Fi communication modem, ora cellular communication modem.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 is hosted on a cloudcompute service. Examples of cloud compute service that may host groupbill payments server 106 include AWS Lambda by Amazon®, Oracle Cloud®,Cloud Functions® by Google®, Azure Functions® by Microsoft®, ApacheOpenWhisk®, or other cloud compute services. In some embodiments, toperform methods disclosed herein, users may interact with native cloudcompute service functions through terminals or shells using tools like,for example, AWS® Command Line Interface, Google's® gcloud command linetool, or Secure Shell (SSH).

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 includes a messagingqueue service. For example, group bill payment server 106 may compriseat least one of Amazon Simple Queue Service (Amazon SQS®), RabbitMQ,Apache ActiveMQ®, RocketMQ®, or other messaging queue service. Themessaging queue service may be configured to send messages between twoor more clients and may support cross language clients and protocols inJAVASCRIPT, C, C++, JAVA, PHP, PYTHON, RUBY, PERL, BASH, or the like.The messaging queue service may generate a triggering event in responseto at least one of receiving a bill, receiving a notification from agroup member device, receiving a notification from a provider, receivinga notification from a financial institution, or the passage of apredetermined date and time.

Group bill payment server 106 may comprise a distributed streamingplatform used alternatively to or in combination with a messaging queueservice. For example group bill payment server 106 may comprise at leastone of Amazon Kinesis Data Streams®, Apache Kafka®. Azure Events Hub®,Google Cloud DataFlow, or other distributed streaming platform. Thedistributed streaming platform may be configured to publish andsubscribe to data streams, store data streams, and process data streamsin real time. In some embodiments, the distributed streaming platformgenerates a triggering event in response to at least one of receiving abill, receiving a notification from a group member device, receiving anotification from a provider, receiving a notification from a financialinstitution, or the passage of a predetermined date and time.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 is hosted on a cloudcompute service and is configured to generate ephemeral containerinstances in response to triggering events. In some embodiments, thetriggering event is generated by a messaging queue service or datastreaming platform. In some embodiments, the triggering event isgenerated in response to receiving a bill. In some embodiments, thetrigger event is the passage of a predetermined date and time. In someembodiments, the trigger event is generated in response to receiving anotification from at least one of a group member device, a provider, ora financial institution. In some embodiments, a container instance maybe an AWS Lambda® compute instance, Oracle Cloud® compute instance,Google Cloud Functions® virtual machine, Microsoft Azure Functions® hostinstance, Apache OpenWhisk® instance, or other container instance.

A container instance, in some embodiments, may comprise a stand-alone,executable package that includes code, runtime, system tools, systemlibraries, and settings that is configured to execute a job, the jobperforming methods disclosed herein. A container instance may be scaledby functions of a cloud compute service to include a number ofprocessors and an amount of memory based on an estimated size of a job.A container instance may be configured to execute functions written inone or more programming languages, including JAVASCRIPT, C, C++, JAVA,PHP, PYTHON, RUBY, PERL, BASH, or other programming or scriptinglanguages. Container instances are ephemeral and may run for a singlejob or a series of jobs, and data stored by container instance may bedestroyed upon termination, providing security advantages.

Advantageously, a container instance may be a closed container. That is,a container instance may block attempts to access the container and notpermit access from outside using terminals or remote shell tools likeSSH, RTP, FTP, or Curl, for example. Accordingly, a container instanceprovides security benefits to system 100 by protecting personal orfinancial information.

Group member device 102 may comprise memory 230 that includes one ormore storage devices configured to store information used by processor210 (or other components) to perform certain functions related to thedisclosed embodiments. In one example, group member device 102 mayinclude memory 230 that includes instructions to enable processor 210 toexecute one or more applications, such as server applications, a callhosting application, a messaging application, an electronic transactionapplication, an account status application, network communicationprocesses, and any other type of application or software known to beavailable on computer systems. Alternatively or additionally, theinstructions, application programs, etc. may be stored in an internaldatabase or external storage (not shown) in direct communication withgroup member device 102, such as one or more databases or memoryaccessible over network 112. A database or other external storage may bea volatile or non-volatile, magnetic, semiconductor, tape, optical,removable, non-removable, or other type of storage device or tangible(i.e., non-transitory) computer-readable medium.

FIG. 3 is a diagram of an exemplary group bill payment server 106,consistent with disclosed embodiments.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server 106 may be on a singleserver, a cluster of servers configured for parallel processing,multiple server clusters, or a cloud service. Group bill payment server106 may be hosted on a private or public network and may further be on acloud. As one of skill in the art will appreciate, other arrangementsare possible, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 3, group bill payment server 106 comprises one or moreprocessors 310, one or more I/O devices 320, and a memory 330. I/Odevices may comprise a printer. Memory 330 may include at least one ofgroup member module 332, financial institution module 334, or providermodule 336.

Processor 310 may be one or more known or custom processing devicesdesigned to perform functions of the disclosed methods, such as a singlecore or multiple core processors capable of executing parallel processessimultaneously. For example, processor 310 may be a single coreprocessor configured with virtual processing technologies. In certainembodiments, processor 310 may use logical processors to simultaneouslyexecute and control multiple processes. Processor 231 may implementvirtual machine technologies, or other known technologies to provide theability to execute, control, run, manipulate, store, etc. multiplesoftware processes, applications, programs, etc. One of ordinary skillin the art would understand that other types of processor arrangementscould be implemented that provide for the capabilities disclosed herein.

Group bill payment server 106 may include one or more storage devicesconfigured to store information used by processor 310 (or othercomponents) to perform certain functions related to the disclosedembodiments. In one example, group bill payment server 106 may includememory 330 that includes instructions to enable processor 310 to executeone or more applications, such as server applications, a call hostingapplication, a messaging application, an electronic transactionapplication, an account status application, network communicationprocesses, and any other type of application or software known to beavailable on computer systems. Alternatively or additionally, theinstructions, application programs, etc. may be stored in an internaldatabase or external storage (not shown) in direct communication withgroup bill payment server 106, such as one or more databases or memoryaccessible over network 112. A database or other external storage may bea volatile or non-volatile, magnetic, semiconductor, tape, optical,removable, non-removable, or other type of storage device or tangible(i.e., non-transitory) computer-readable medium.

In one embodiment, group bill payment server 106 may include memory 330that includes instructions that, when executed by processor 310, performone or more processes consistent with the functionalities disclosedherein. Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent withdisclosed embodiments are not limited to separate programs or computersconfigured to perform dedicated tasks. For example, group bill paymentserver 106 may include memory 330 that may include one or more programsto perform one or more functions of the disclosed embodiments, includingthe functions performed by member module 332, financial institutionmodule 334, or provider module 336. Moreover, processor 310 may executeone or more programs located remotely from system 100. For example,group bill payment server 106 may access one or more remote programs,that, when executed, perform functions related to disclosed embodiments.

As depicted in FIG. 3, I/O devices 320 may comprise printer 322configured to print a check. I/O devices 320 may also include one ormore communication modules (not shown) for sending and receivinginformation from other components in system 100 by, for example,establishing wired or wireless connectivity between group bill paymentserver and network 112. Exemplary communication modules as I/O devices310 may include, for example, a short-range or near field wirelesscommunication modem, a Wi-Fi communication modem, or a cellularcommunication modem. As one of skill in the art will appreciate, toperform functions disclosed in the embodiments, I/O devices 320 maycomprise other devices not depicted in FIG. 3.

Still referring to FIG. 3, memory 330 may comprise group member module332, financial institution module 334, and provider module 336.

Group member module 332 may be configured to create, modify, or deleteuser accounts and group bill payment accounts, consistent withdisclosures made in reference to FIG. 1. In some embodiments, membermodule 332 is configured to send notifications to group members. Forexample, group member module 332 may be configured to send and receivedata to and from one of group member devices 102 a-n. Group membermodule 332 may be configured to generate a rule for group bill payment.Consistent with disclosed embodiments and as depicted in FIG. 3, membermodule 332 may be configured to require and accept an authenticationcredential. As disclosed above with respect to FIG. 1, member module 332may be configured to send and receive encrypted data to and from atleast one of a group member device 102 a-n, a financial institution 104a-n, or provider 110.

Still referring to FIG. 3, financial institution module 334 may beconfigured to make and receive payments to and from a financialinstitution like, for example, financial institutions 104 a-n associatedwith a group member or a provider.

Referring to FIG. 3, provider module 336 may be configured to create,modify, or delete provider accounts, consistent with disclosures made inreference to FIG. 1. In some embodiments, provider module 336 isconfigured to send notifications to providers. For example, providermodule 336 may be configured to send and receive data to and from adevice associated with provider 110. Consistent with disclosedembodiments and as depicted in FIG. 3, provider module 336 may beconfigured to require and accept an authentication credential. Asdisclosed above with respect to FIG. 1, provider module 336 may beconfigured to send and receive encrypted data to and from at least oneof a group member device 102 a-n, a financial institution 104 a-n, orgroup bill payment account server 106.

FIG. 4 is a flowchart of an exemplary process 400 for group billpayment, consistent with disclosed embodiments performed by group billpayment server 106.

At step 402, group bill payment server 106 creates a group bill paymentaccount associated with a plurality of group members. In someembodiments, creating a group bill payment account comprises receivinginformation via network 112 from one of the group member devices 102a-n. The information may comprise at least one of a credential or amember payment method. In some embodiments, step 402 comprises adding orremoving group members from the group bill payment account.

In some embodiments, group bill payment server stores user accountinformation and group bill payment account information on group database108.

In some embodiments, step 402 may comprise assigning or modifying aprivilege of a group member. For example, step 402 may compriseassigning a group member to manage the group bill payment accountfollowing an authentication process. In some embodiments, a plurality ofgroup members may be assigned managing privileges. In some embodiments,the authentication process comprises sending a token to group billpayment server 106. In some embodiments, the token may have beenpreviously received from at least one of group bill payment server 106or a remote token server (not depicted in the figures).

In some embodiments, step 402 comprises linking an external bank accountheld, for example, in one of financial institutions 104 a-n.

In some embodiments, step 402 may comprise receiving informationassociated with a provider comprising at least one of a provider depositaccount, a provider address, a provider email address, or a credentialassociated with a user account hosted by a provider.

In some embodiments, group bill payment account 106 is hosted on a cloudcompute service, and, at step 402, a user may interact with native cloudcompute service functions through terminals or shells using tools like,for example, AWS® Command Line Interface, Google's® gcloud command linetool, or Secure Shell (SSH).

Step 404 comprises receiving instructions from a group member to createa group bill payment rule.

In some embodiments, the instructions to create a group bill paymentrule at step 404 comprises at least one of an amount due by a groupmember or a percentage of a bill owed by a group member. In someembodiments, the amount due may be a fixed amount. In some embodiments,the percentage may be one of a predetermined percentage, a percentagebased on an income, or a percentage based on a usage rate. For example,the predetermined percentage may be a fixed percentage of a variableutility bill owed by the group member. In some embodiments, thepercentage based on income may be proportional to the ratio of theincome of the group member to the total income of all group members.

In some embodiments, the percentage based on a usage rate may be therelative proportion of data used by one or more user devices associatedwith the group member in a shared internet data plan. In someembodiments, the percentage based on a usage rate comprises identifyingan area associated with a user in a floor plan uploaded to paymentserver 110. In some embodiments, the percentage based on a usage rate isbased on a number of hours, days, months, or other scheduling factor.For example, a group member may occupy an apartment only on weekends,and the group bill payment rule may be based on the number ofweekend-days in a month.

In some embodiments, the group bill payment rule comprises a rule to paya predetermined amount on a predetermined schedule. For example, thegroup bill payment rule may comprise paying a predetermined amount onthe first business day of every month.

In some embodiments, step 404 comprises establishing a payment accountassociated with a group member to be used at step 410 when sending apayment request. For example, in some embodiments, at step 404, a usermay provide at least one of a direct debit account, a bank accountwithdrawal, a credit card, or other information to facilitate anotherelectronic transaction. For example, the group bill payment account maycomplete a credit card transaction, a debit card transaction, a smartcard transaction, an E-wallet transaction, a NetBanking® transaction, amobile payment, an AmeriCommerce® transaction, an Amazon Pay®transaction, a Visa Pay® transaction, an Apple Pay® transaction or thelike.

In some embodiments, step 404 comprises instructions to automaticallysend a request to an established payment account at step 410 andautomatically receive a deposit at step 412.

In some embodiments, step 404 comprises instruction to create a groupbill payment account balance by sending a group bill payment request toa group member prior to receiving a bill. In some embodiments, step 404comprises granting group bill payment server 106 access to a line ofcredit to be used in the event of nonpayment by a group member. In someembodiments, step 404 comprises instructions to send a payment requestto a guarantor in the event of nonpayment by a group member. Forexample, a guarantor could be one of the group members, a relative of agroup member, or other person associated with a group member.

In some embodiments, step 404 comprises modifying an existing rule. Aswill be appreciated by one of skill in the art, step 404 may compriseother operations consistent with disclosed embodiments.

In some embodiments, group bill payment account 106 is hosted on a cloudcompute service, and, at step 404, a user may interact with native cloudcompute service functions through terminals or shells using tools like,for example, AWS® Command Line Interface, Google's® gcloud command linetool, or Secure Shell (SSH).

Step 405 comprises configuring group bill payment server 106 to receivea bill.

In some embodiments, at step 405, a group member using a group memberdevice 102 configures the group payment server 106 to access an accountmanaged by provider 110 following an authentication protocol. Forexample, the group member may provide a website address, a username, anda password for accessing an account managed by provider 110. Further, insome embodiments, the group member may provide instructions fordownloading the bill.

In some embodiments, at step 405, group bill payment server 106 may beconfigured to process a bill using optical character recognition (OCR).For example, the group member may provide instructions for identifyingat least one of a charge or a due date following an OCR conversion of animage file.

In some embodiments, at step 405, the group bill payment server 106 isconfigured to retrieve an email comprising a bill. For example, a groupmember may provide group bill payment server 106 with at least one of anemail account username or an email account password, and further provideinstructions for processing an email comprising a bill associated withprovider 110. The instructions may comprise at least one of a providername, a rule for identifying a charge amount, a rule for identifying adue date, instructions to identify a charge in the text of an email, orinstructions to identify a charge in an attachment.

In some embodiments, group billing server 106 is hosted on a cloudcompute service and step 405 comprises cloud compute instructions tospin up, that is, generate, a container instance upon a triggeringevent. In some embodiments, the triggering event is generated by amessaging queue service or data streaming platform. The triggering eventmay be one of receiving a bill from a user device 102 a-n, receiving abill from a provider 110, receiving instructions to retrieve a bill froma group member device 102, or the passage of a predetermined date andtime. Consistent with the present disclosure, in some embodiments, step405 comprises providing instructions to the container instance or the toautomatically terminate the container instance upon completion of a job,the job comprising at receiving a bill and at least one of steps408-416.

In some embodiments, at step 405, a user may interact with native cloudcompute service functions through terminals or shells using tools like,for example, AWS® Command Line Interface, Google's® gcloud command linetool, or Secure Shell (SSH).

In some embodiments, the group bill payment rule created at step 404comprises sending a predetermined payment amount on a predeterminedschedule, and step 405 may be skipped.

Step 406 comprises receiving a bill associated with a provider and agroup bill payment account. Receiving a bill comprises receiving a billfrom at least one of a group member device 102 a-n or from provider 110.In some embodiments, receiving a bill comprises receiving instructionscomprising at least one of an amount due, a due date, a provider, orprovider payment information. In some embodiments, the instructions arereceived from a user logged into at least one of a user account or agroup bill payment account. In some embodiments, receiving a billcomprises receiving an image file and using OCR to generate text databased on the image file. In some embodiments, receiving a bill comprisesaccessing an email account using a credential. In some embodiments,receiving a bill comprises automatically detecting an email in the emailaccount from the provider, wherein the email contains electronic billinginformation.

In some embodiments, the bill comprises a fixed charge that does notvary in amount for each billing cycle. In some embodiments, the billcomprises a variable charge that varies in amount for each billingcycle.

In some embodiments, step 406 is performed by a container instancegenerated, by group bill payment server 106, in response to a triggeringevent, based on cloud compute instructions disclosed in reference tostep 405. In some embodiments, the container instance may be generatedwithin milliseconds of a triggering event.

In some embodiments, the group bill payment rule created at step 404comprises sending a predetermined payment amount on a predeterminedschedule, and step 406 is skipped.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, consistent withdisclosed embodiments, creating a rule may comprise other logicalconstraints based on information associated with at least one of aprovider, a bill, a schedule, a group member, or a payment method.

Step 408 comprises determining a charge to a group member based on therule. Determining a charge comprises applying the rule created at step404. In some embodiments, the charge is further based on the receivedbill or electronic billing information. For example, group bill paymentserver 106 may determine a charge of $40.00 to a group member byapplying a rule to assign 30% of a received utility bill that varieseach billing cycle to a group member, wherein the received utility billtotaled $120.00. As another example, group bill payment server 106 maydetermine a charge by applying a rule that a group member owes a fixedfee of $500.00 for rent. In some embodiments, step 408 is performed by acontainer instance generated at step 406.

Step 410 comprises sending a payment request. In some embodiments,sending the payment request comprises at least one of an email, a textmessage, a push notification, or sending a payment request to anestablished payment account. Sending a payment request to an establishedpayment account may comprise, for example, a direct debit from a bankaccount, or a charge to a credit card.

In some embodiments, step 410 is performed by a container instancegenerated at step 406.

In some embodiments, step 410 is performed in anticipation of a bill,based on a rule created at step 404, prior to at least one of steps 406or 408. In these embodiments, a group bill payment account balance maybe generated.

Step 412 comprises receiving a deposit from a group member into thegroup bill payment account. In some embodiments, receiving a depositcomprises at least one of receiving a check, receiving a wire transfer,a receiving a direct debit, performing a bank withdrawal from a linkedbank account, charging a credit card, or other transaction. For example,the group bill payment account may complete a credit card transaction, adebit card transaction, a smart card transaction, an E-wallettransaction, a NetBanking® transaction, a mobile payment, anAmeriCommerce® transaction, an Amazon Pay® transaction, a Visa Pay®transaction, an Apple Pay® transaction or the like.

In some embodiments, step 412 is performed by a container instancegenerated at step 406.

Step 414 comprises transmitting a group payment.

In some embodiments, transmitting a group payment at step 414 comprisestransferring funds from group bill payment account 106 to one of aprovider or a financial institution associated with a provider. In someembodiments, transmitting a group payment comprises sending anelectronic payment. For example, the group bill payment account maycomplete a credit card transaction, a debit card transaction, a smartcard transaction, an E-wallet transaction, a NetBanking® transaction, amobile payment, an AmeriCommerce® transaction, an Amazon Pay®transaction, a Visa Pay® transaction, an Apple Pay® transaction or thelike. In some embodiments, transmitting a group payment comprisesautomatically generating and sending a check. Generating a check maycomprise printing a check with printer 322. Sending a check may comprisesending a check by one of a courier service, a postal service, or othermeans. In some embodiments, transmitting a group payment is performedprior to step 412.

In some embodiments, step 414 is performed by a container instancegenerated at step 406.

Step 416 comprises sending a notification. In some embodiments, thenotification comprises at least one of an email, a text message, or apush notification. In some embodiments, the notification comprises apayment status. In some embodiments, step 416 is performed by acontainer instance generated at step 406.

In some embodiments not depicted in FIG. 4, based on nonpayment by agroup member, process 400 further comprises sending a second paymentrequest to the group members. In some embodiments, process 400 comprisessending a nonpayment notification to another group member. In someembodiments, the nonpayment notification comprises at least one ofsending an email, a text message, or a push notification. In someembodiments, in the event of nonpayment by a group member, group billpayment server 106 transmits a payment to provider 110 at step 408 usingfunds available in at least one of a group bill payment account balance,a line of credit, or a payment method of a guarantor. In someembodiments, in the event of nonpayment by a group member, group billpayment server 106 does not transmit a payment to provider 110 and skip408 is skipped.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, in some embodiments, any of steps402-416 of process 400 may be performed by a container instance.

FIG. 5 shows diagram 500 of an exemplary apartment shared by groupmembers, consistent with disclosed embodiments.

Consistent with disclosed embodiments, creating a rule for group billpayment based on usage may comprise creating a rule for group billpayment based on diagram 500. The rule may comprise a percentage of abill owed by a group member based on an area associated with a groupmember.

In some embodiments, three group members may reside in apartment inrooms 502, 504, and 506. That is, three group members may beapartment-mates. As shown in FIG. 5, apartment-mates residing in room502, 504, and 506 use corresponding closets 522, 524, and 518. Rooms508, 510, 512, 520, and 526 represent a shared living room, a shareddining room, a shared kitchen, a shared utility closet, and a sharedlaundry room, respectively. In the example of FIG. 5, apartment-matesresiding in rooms 502 and 504 share bathroom 514, while an apartmentmate residing in room 506 has exclusive use of bathroom 516.

Considering this example, group members residing in rooms 502, 504, and506 may be associated with a respective proportion of the apartmentarea. Respective proportions may be determined by summing the all areasof associated with a particular group member, including shared andexclusive-use areas, and dividing by the total area of the apartment.

In some embodiments, the respective proportion may change based on achange in the area associated with a group member, resulting in amodification to a rule. For example, a group member 506 may stop usingkitchen 512, or may offer use of closet 518 to a user residing in room502.

In some embodiments, the rule may be based on a weighting function. Forexample, the rule may assign a weight to each room 502-518 based on theperceived value of the respective room. Room 506 may be assigned a highweight owing to its greater privacy, while room 504 may be assigned alower rate than room 502 because it may lack a window. Otherarrangements are possible.

In some embodiments, more than one group member resides in at least oneof rooms 502, 504, or 506. That is the group may compriseapartment-mates and roommates. The rule for group bill payment may bebased on the group members status as an apartment-mate and roommate.

For example, four apartment mates may share the apartment depicted indiagram 500. Two roommates may reside in room 506. In this example, thegroup bill payment server may first specify a collective percentage owedcollectively by both roommates in room 506, then specify a relativeshare of the collective percentage to each roommate. The relative sharemay be based on any criteria. As will be appreciated by one of skill inthe art, other arrangements are possible.

Systems and methods disclosed herein involve unconventional improvementsover conventional communal or group bill payment systems. As compared toconventional technologies for group bill payment, embodiments of theinvention reduces risk and increases convenience.

Descriptions of the disclosed embodiments are not exhaustive and are notlimited to the precise forms or embodiments disclosed. Modifications andadaptations of the embodiments will be apparent from consideration ofthe specification and practice of the disclosed embodiments.Additionally, the disclosed embodiments are not limited to the examplesdiscussed herein.

Computer programs based on the written description and methods of thisspecification are within the skill of a software developer. The variousprograms or program modules can be created using a variety ofprogramming techniques. For example, program sections or program modulescan be designed in or by means of Java, C, C++, NodeJS, C #, GO, Python,Ruby, assembly language, or any such programming languages. One or moreof such software sections or modules can be integrated into a computersystem, non-transitory computer-readable media, or existingcommunications software.

Moreover, while illustrative embodiments have been described herein, thescope includes any and all embodiments having equivalent elements,modifications, omissions, combinations (e.g., of aspects across variousembodiments), adaptations or alterations based on the presentdisclosure. The elements in the claims are to be interpreted broadlybased on the language employed in the claims and not limited to examplesdescribed in the present specification or during the prosecution of theapplication, which examples are to be construed as non-exclusive.Further, the steps of the disclosed methods can be modified in anymanner, including by reordering steps or inserting or deleting steps. Itis intended, therefore, that the specification and examples beconsidered as exemplary only, with a true scope and spirit beingindicated by the following claims and their full scope of equivalents.

1.-20. (canceled)
 21. A system for group bill payment, comprising: oneor more hardware processors; and memory storing instructions executableby the one or more hardware processors to perform operations comprising:creating a secure group bill payment account associated with a pluralityof group members, wherein the group bill payment account is configuredto receive a payment method associated with each of the group membersand transmit a group payment to a provider on behalf of the groupmembers; receiving instructions from a group member to create a rule forrequesting payment from one or more of the group members based on a billassociated with the provider, the instructions enabling access tonotifications associated with the bill that are received by one or moreof the group members or provided by the provider; detecting, based onthe enabled access, a notification received by one of the group membersor from the provider, the notification indicating the bill from theprovider is available; receiving the bill based on the detectednotification; determining a group member charge based on the receivedbill and the rule; sending a payment request to a first group memberbased on the group member charge; receiving a deposit into the groupbill payment account from the first group member based on the paymentrequest; and transmitting the group payment from the group bill paymentaccount to the provider, the group payment being based on the bill. 22.The system of claim 21, wherein the bill is a recurring bill.
 23. Thesystem of claim 21, wherein receiving the bill comprises receiving animage file and using optical character recognition to generate text databased on the image file.
 24. The system of claim 21, wherein detecting anotification further comprises: accessing an email account using acredential; and automatically detecting an email in the email accountfrom the provider, wherein the email contains electronic billinginformation.
 25. The system of claim 21, wherein transmitting a grouppayment comprises a direct debit.
 26. The system of claim 21, whereintransmitting a group payment comprises automatically generating andsending a check to the provider.
 27. The system of claim 21, wherein therule is based on at least one of a predetermined percentage, an income,a usage rate, or a predetermined amount.
 28. The system of claim 21,wherein sending the payment request comprises at least one of an email,a text message, a push notification, a direct debit from a bank account,or a charge to a credit card.
 29. The system of claim 21, wherein thepayment method is received after an authentication process.
 30. Thesystem of claim 21, the operations further comprising receivinginstructions to modify the rule for requesting payment from one of thegroup members.
 31. The system of claim 30, wherein the instructions tomodify the rule comprise one of adding a new group member to the grouppayment account or deleting one of the group members from the grouppayment account.
 32. The system of claim 21, wherein creating the grouppayment account comprises linking an external bank account.
 33. Thesystem of claim 30, wherein the instructions to modify the rule compriseat least one of changing a payment method, changing an amount owed, orchanging a predetermined percentage.
 34. The system of claim 21, theoperations further comprising receiving instructions to modify aprivilege of a group member.
 35. The system of claim 21, the operationsfurther comprising: sending a notification to the first group memberindicating a status of the group payment, wherein the notificationcomprises at least one of an email, a text message, or a pushnotification.
 36. The system of claim 21, the operations furthercomprising: sending, based on nonpayment by a second group member, apayment request to the second group member; and sending, based onnonpayment by the second group member, a nonpayment notification to athird group member.
 37. The system of claim 36, wherein the nonpaymentnotification comprises at least one of sending an email, a text message,or a push notification.
 38. The system of claim 21, wherein transmittingthe group payment comprises transmitting the group payment prior toreceiving the deposit into the group bill payment account from the firstgroup member.
 39. A method for group bill payment comprising: creating,by a group bill payment system, a secure group bill payment accountassociated with a plurality of group members, wherein the group billpayment account is configured to receive a payment method associatedwith each of the group members and transmit a group payment to aprovider on behalf of the group members; receiving, by the group billpayment system, instructions from a group member to create a rule forrequesting payment from a first group member to the group bill paymentaccount based on a bill associated with the provider, the instructionsenabling access to notifications associated with the bill that arereceived by one or more of the group members or provided by theprovider; detecting, based on the enabled access, a notificationreceived by one of the group members or from the provider, thenotification indicating the bill from the provider is available;receiving, by the group bill payment system, the bill based on thedetected notification; determining a first group member charge based onthe received bill and the rule; sending a first payment request to thefirst group member based on the first group member charge; receiving, bythe group bill payment system, a deposit into the group bill paymentaccount from the first group member based on the payment request;transmitting a group payment from the group bill payment account to theprovider, the group payment being based on the bill.
 40. A system forgroup bill payment, comprising: one or more hardware processors; andmemory storing instructions executable by the one or more hardwareprocessors to perform operations comprising: creating a group billpayment account associated with a plurality of group members, whereinthe group bill payment account is configured to receive a payment methodassociated with each of the group members and transmit a group paymentto a provider on behalf of the group members; receiving instructions tocreate a rule for automatic payment by a first group member to the groupbill payment account, the bill being from the provider and theinstructions enabling access to notifications associated with the billthat are received by one or more of the group members or provided by theprovider; detecting, based on the enabled access, a notificationreceived by one of the group members or from the provider, thenotification indicating the bill from the provider is available;determining a charge for the first group member based on the receivedbill and the rule; receiving the automatic payment into the group billpayment account from the first group member based on the rule;transmitting a group payment from the group bill payment account to theprovider, the group payment being based on the bill; sending anotification to the first group member, the notification comprisinginformation about a status of the group payment.